No Power in the 'Verse
by Harbinger Loki
Summary: AU. A sort of switch fic. What if Jane and Darcy were the Princesses of Asgard instead and Thor and Loki were from Midgard? Jane has always had a strong response to being scientific while Darcy's magic, though looked down upon, had gotten them into trouble, again and again. This time though, Darcy may not have a way to have her big sister help her. Loki/Darcy, Jane/Thor.
1. Princess of the Stars

"No power in the 'verse can stop me!" A rather low-pitched girlish voice called out with a bolt of green energy shooting out of her fingertips to bound against a golden surface of the room. The bolt fizzled as soon as it impacted the somewhat scorched golden wall. Clad in a wardrobe of brown cloth and gold chain, a brunette came bounding out from behind a pillar, decorative armor worn as she pranced around the large practice room with magic being called to her hands and shot out.

A sharp 'A-HEM' made the dark haired brunette pause in her prancing about to look quickly at who interrupted her spell casting. Tall, even for a maiden of their heritage, the woman was clad in decorative blue with silver metal embroidering the dark and light blue cloth. She had a fair body hidden under the armored layers. Brown eyes that reminded the other girl of their shared mother only coldly regarded the prancing woman.

"Darcy, the hall is waiting for us. Let us get there without turning into any strange animals or losing our clothes like last time." Darcy's blue eyes darkened at the annoyed tone of her older sister as she spoke to the loony one of the two. Her words held some truth as Darcy was well reknowned for her many spells and even more, spell casting accidents. With a sigh, Darcy reached a hand to her loose brown hair, debating for a moment to herself, before her full ensorcelled armor shimmered onto her rather curvaceous form, tightening the hold the cloth had on her as it settled. The elder of the two turned on her heel, not needing to change into any armor, nor staying behind to wait for Darcy to be ready to leave.

"Coming, Jane!" Darcy called out as Jane's normal strides easily outmatched her smaller ones. Asgard's brazier lit hallways raced across both immortals' faces. Jane was graceful with each stride, upright, eyes straight like a true royal. Her companion, nearly jogging behind the taller Aesir to keep up, was far from graceful, tripping every once in a while behind her sister. The echoes of their footsteps preceded the duo as they walked towards the throne hall where she knew they would have to look their best and be on their best behavior, well, rather Darcy would have to be.

"We're here. Are you ready, Darcy?" Jane looked back towards her approaching sister. Her brown eyes assessed her younger kin. Her cape had a torn hem from tripping over it with her feet. Her face was wide and open as her armored hands ran down across her hair before slipping on her diadem. The elder felt a smile start to quirk at the tip of her lips. Her sister, open and mischievous, ever prone to disaster and chaos incarnate, was the only reason for Jane's laughter and smiles if she had any to show. Despite her slightly rumpled clothing under the armor, and the fact that her diadem was tilted at an angle of a few degrees, Jane decided that the messier of the two was ready for this.

"Go ahead of me just as we practiced." Nodding, perhaps to save herself any further embaressment in front of the more studious of the two, Darcy slipped into the throne room, easing her way, as easily as she could before Jane would enter the grand hall where the crowd was talking to themselves, waiting in anticipation for the older Aesir, only taking a side glance if Darcy ever crossed their minds for a second.

Jane closed her eyes in thought, counting under her breath before exhaling a warm breath from her lips. Her armor, immaculate, with her diadem of silver stars in her hair along her brow, Jane knew she was as ready as she would ever be. This was going to be her last steps as Princess of Asgard. She would fully be the heir without worry of Darcy ever inheriting the title and accidently causing an interplanetary instance…..

Little did the two sisters know that this day would change the rest of their lives.


	2. The Coronation

The crowd was magnificent, calling out all too strongly with their lungs. On the raised dais, with the throne stood their father, Odin Borson, holding the Gungnir in his hands as he watched his eldest daughter with her usual elegance make her way down the middle of the hall with an almost smile upon his severe looking face. The guards, clad in their golden horned helms and armor stood at attention, neither moving nor speaking as she passed between them, unopposed.

Darcy peered from her place next to their mother, Frigga, nearly bouncing on her toes to get a better view of her older sister, much to the chagrin of Frigga who shook her light auburn hair fiercely at the younger girl's complete disregard for proper standing in the throne room. Frigga's golden hair had streaks of brown in it, making it seem as if her hair was a sandy beach down her back despite the golden jeweled ornaments in it. Darcy grumbled darkly as she settled down, hearing the reprimand in her mind that her mother had more than uttered over ten thousand times to her in all sorts of sittings and standings in the grand hall, far too used to having heard them for nearly thousands of years.

Her mother could only feel pride at Jane and only slight exasperation at Darcy's fidgeting beside her. Her fingers firmly rested against waist, holding her modestly adorned hands against the golden silk embroidered dress. The topazes in her hair and on her dress only made her seem to swim in her regality. Her lips quirked slightly in contained happiness as Jane took a moment on her walk to the raised dais to glance over at mother and sister before retraining her eyes on her father. Frigga breathed a sigh of relief that no cantrip was cast, accidently or otherwise by Darcy and that everything was going along their plan.

BANG!

The crowd's arms fell to their sides. All heads turned to look at their king, the Allfather Odin, who in turn kept his eyes on his kneeling daughter. It was easy to see where Jane had gotten her looks from. Frigga's entire body and face was replicated by Jane, only being younger in age, though with as much grace as their mother. Darcy could only feel jealous at that prospect. For a sorceress, even one as accident-prone as she was, Darcy had taken after the Allfather in most respects, except for her temperament which she had not received from either parent as her mother was far too gentle and noble and her father was too taciturn and keeping to his own council.

Her blue eyes glanced below her to Jane's guardian, the lady warrior, Sif. Sif was a tall woman, topping off Jane by a few inches, and had been their constant playmate since before Darcy could truly remember. The warrior woman was a strong hearted friend and tried her best to ensure the safety of Jane, though Darcy did miss the golden hair that Sif once had. Cringing at the old memory before it could play along in her head of the past; the magician turned her eyes back towards her starring sister.

Odin's eye gazed over his eldest daughter, taking in her poised head, calculated brown eyes staring back at him. Her face did not betray any sense of doubt or pride. The warrior king could only sigh. His sweet Jane, for she was a truly sweet woman, kept everyone but his younger daughter out from seeing who she could truly be and even then he knew that Darcy only saw glimpses of even that. He breathed a heavy sigh before talking.

"Jane…Odindatter," Her name escaped his lips with a soft tremble behind it. His eldest daughter was not versed in the ways of politics, having far chosen a life amongst the scholars, intent on studying the other worlds, seeing the stars as more than just the nine realms. He remembered her speaking as if Yggdrasil's stars were the leaves of so many planets that had yet to form along the main branch. She had been intent on the study of reaching unknown worlds and wanting to recreate the Bifrost as if it could be used one day as a small device, an idea that she had formed after asking after Heimdall the first time she had ever used the Bifrost.

"My heir," He heard, more than saw, his other daughter, the child whom had tried to please him when she came into her own through her magic, give a soft almost unheard of sigh. He knew that his younger daughter was versed into politics, enjoying reading people and motives since she was young, but her open heart was too light for the burden of the throne while Jane's was too cold.

"My first born," The king took a moment for another heady breath as a memory from a near eon ago crested across his mind. Frigga was much younger looking, vitality radiating from her sweat-slicked brow and red-bursting cheeks, as her soft smile slipped along her lips as he held his first child from his oath-sworn wife. Wide brown eyes stared at him from the bundle in his thick arms as he was afraid he might crush this tiny spark of love and life. His hand tightened on the golden spear, Gungnir, taking him back from a place of lost time, to his first born kneeling in front of the throne, bowing to him as he spoke.

"So long entrusted with the keeping of the mighty Mjolnir, forged in the heart of a dying star. Its power has no equal. "Jane nearly felt her lip turn into a small smile as she thought upon the weapon Mjolnir. It was her betrothal gift that she and Darcy had found in lieu of a bet with some dwarfs on Svartálfaheimr, in the underground markets. The hammer was mighty, powerful, imbued with the ability to call lightning, creating a leash of energy that enabled the user to call it from wherever they had thrown it. Darcy's magic though had nearly destroyed the gift in a catastrophic accident when it was being forged by the dwarves. The punishment…..Jane felt the beginnings of her small smile die just as it came to her lips. She did not want to dwell upon that memory of her younger, trouble-inducing sister.

"It's a weapon to destroy or a tool to build. It is a fit companion for the man who will become your king." The thought of sharing the throne without her sister had never passed her mind until her father spoke those words. Jane knew she would never truly ever rule the throne. She would one day be a Queen of Asgard and retain regency when her father and husband passed into the Odin-sleep or were away on official business.

The star-searcher took a second to glance over at her loved sibling. There had never been a time that Jane could remember separating from Darcy. Hearing out her counsel was another thing, but Darcy was beside her and had always been. When she would be betrothed, Darcy would not be beside her anymore. The curly haired brunette would be forever cast aside in the role of an advisor if anything, second to her husband and third to the good of the realm.

"I have defended Asgard of the lives of the innocent across the nine realms of the time beginning." With the last thought of her sister, the adorable child she had protected from time and time again as they grew up being left to share little of what her duties would be, Jane swallowed softly as her throat went dry. Her father intoned in the ancient rites that her father had heard from his father and from the father before that. They would be the same words she would speak to her first born, her heir, despite knowing that it would be a long while still before she took a husband to bed as her oath-sworn.

The researcher frowned to herself as the rites continued. It would be a very long time. Most of the warriors were far too into their own world of arms and fighting to care truly about the details of her mind. More than once, she had come across cads that believed themselves fitting of the golden throne that was intended for her beloved when she truly ascended. More than once, she had defied tradition and promptly returned any and all gifts she had received from her deceivers, choosing her studies to men far too easily.

Though, hearing through the whispers of the maids, more often than not, of how men that had deceived her ended up pranked, tricked themselves with illusions and terrible sounds for weeks. She knew then that Darcy would never look down upon her for such ambitions of her research over men.

LLL

Under the grand throne room, past the arched gateways and lone bridge descending into the nothingness below the palace segmental arches, shadowing the dark, secret things that lived under the heart of the Aesir. A rotation of guards walked through the doors of the vault, patrolling on the icy blue pathway up to the Casket of Winter, a Jotunheim relic that had been taken in the last great war of Odin's reign. The casket, a magnificent blue glowing box with silver handles upon it, rested upon an altar at the end of the long corridor of forgotten but powerful objects. As the guards reached the end, one of them took a moment to gaze at the contrasting blues that the box gave light to, noticing if only for a moment those edges of the pathway were coursing with ice, as if there were a chance of a blizzard having just started coming through.

He opened his mouth to warn the other guard before throwing his head back in a gurgle of blood, which quickly froze to in his body, exploding along his limbs until he fell down, dead to the world. His companion turned quickly before being caught in the stomach compared to his patrolling partner who had fared much worse with an ice blade through his throat.

Dark chuckles emerged from the guard killers. They were marked on their dark sea blue skin as if they had forever been lost to the storm of winter. Red eyes all trained on the powerful artifact on the pedestal. There were only three of these men, all wearing dark leather skirts, as befitting their men. The leader of the three gave into the momentous moment, reaching out for the handles on the casket reverently, as if nothing could ever impede this one moment in history.

LLL

"Do you swear to guard the nine realms with your chosen husband?" Odin Allfather stared at his kneeling daughter, her brown eyes looking up to him in all of her loyalty and love for him as he spoke the ritualistic words to her. She knew that Odin would not pick a husband for her lightly, choosing instead of one that she would be compatible with for her own needs, one that would rule the kingdom at her side, though truthfully she knew that she may eventually have to fight her king on some of his decisions as she was a woman and would never truly be able to rule Asgard.

"I do." Her words were truthful to the core. She knew that she would be loyal and rule the realms with whomever her husband would be but she had no inclination to believe that she would truly have a choice in which she would eventually be marrying. It was not unheard of to have a marriage based on love in Asgard. It was honestly easier though for Jane to rationalize that she would never be receiving one herself.

"Do you swear to preserve the peace at the side of whomever you have been bound to?" Her father's soft voice projected through the silence. Despite the thousands around her, all waiting with baited breath as she was with the swearing of the Vows of Asgard. His voice reminded her of the nights when she had been a child, listening to him on his knee, even before Darcy had been born and shared their father's knees at story time.

"I do." Her voice was certain despite the feeling of her body trembling in trepidation. She was calm. She was certain of this above all else as Jane very rarely felt emotions such as anxiety or insecurity in herself. The star researcher could only look up at the man on the throne and felt his depth of exhaustion. He had been preparing her, praising all of her accomplishments with each season as he had criticized her on her time being divided between princess and research, but he had understood her wishes. The Allfather had her promise that as she would be the queen and heir to the throne of Asgard that she would keep from her researching if the demands of duty would not allow her a free moment.

"Do you swear to cast aside all selfish ambition and to pledge yourself only to the good of the realm and to defend the realm at all costs, even at the cost of your oath-sworn betrothed?" Her father's eye bore into her. It was as if nothing else could be sworn at a higher cost than this. He pierced her flesh and the core of her unshakable stability with the premise of such a dark statement.

"I do." Her mouth opened once, then twice before the words left her tinged lips to the anticipation of everyone in the royal hall that day, to the anticipation of the grand personage on the raised dais. There was a quiet that blanketed the hall for a whole moment as soon as the words left her. Her head rose up to see his grave face. A flicker of what Jane guessed, if only for a moment, was regret, before his head raised to address the crowd.

"On this day, I, Odin Allfather, proclaim you…." He spoke with all of his authority, letting his pride in his first born daughter leave his lips, extending his good faith despite the soft sign of regret he had let wash over him a few moments before. Suddenly, he stopped, looking confused for a moment as the enchanted eye patch on his scarred over eye, showed his mind a picture of the Vault of Relics, under the large palace in Asgard. Blue beings walked with confidence as he saw the slain bodies, frozen in their lasting death throes on the clear half-iced over water sides of the pathway.

"Frost giants!" His exclamation was quiet, only causing alarm with everyone on the raised dais and to Jane, who stood up in confusion. What was her father seeing that caused such a ruckus that made him remember the War of 10,000 years? A Jotun had not been seen from Jotunheim since the war had ended with her father, the Casket of Winters, and the army of Asgard returning home.

Of course, it was with this weighted seriousness that one, Darcy of Asgard, spoke up blithely, reminding everyone that despite being the younger and more interesting sibling when it came to things that did not include the stars and magic of the travelling the worlds, that she truly said some things at the completely wrong time.

"Frost giants? I doubt she's a Jotun. Did she somehow magic up being a Jotun? Do not tell me she's now trying to conquer magic! That was my area of expertise….well, sort of." Her statement wasn't fairly loud, keeping more in tune with the fact that only half the assembly had heard her. She was sure that those words had caused the hastiest and most neck snaps in her direction than almost any other time she had commented on in her life and she had truly said some of the strangest things at the completely inappropriate times.

"Darcy!" Her mother's sharp glare and Jane's sharp hiss made the mage shrink into herself. She had a way of completely obliterating any of her earned good standing with remarks such as the ones she had just mentioned. The sorceress shuffled the toe of her boots against the floor in her embarrassment, cheeks flushed completely, if only for a rare moment.

BANG!

"Jane, Darcy, come with me at once." Odin's staff slammed against the ground, making the entire assembly sure to give their attentions to the Allfather instead of his daughter's commentary. Jane moved towards her father with Darcy nearly running to his side as the Allfather moved down from the throne to the hall entrance nearest to them. Darcy was nearly grateful for the Allfather having her follow him instead of just Jane, like he normally would.

LLLLLL


	3. Vault of Relics

In the Vault of relics, a dark and troubled walk that Darcy and her sister had ever truly participated so far in their lives as neither of them ever made their ways down the halls to the arched bridge near the bottom of their large home, to the door that went to it. For a sorceress, Darcy felt her body be on edge. Jotuns in Asgard? The last time a Jotun had been allowed in Asgard was when they were building a wall and Darcy had brokered a deal with him, completely offhandedly, about marrying Freyja if he finished the wall within a certain amount of time.

Freyja, the most beautiful woman in Asgard, even surpassing Jane and her mother's beauty with a complete lack of monogamy to her, though she was married to gentle Ord, who loved her despite her major promiscuity flaws, had been joking when she gave her consent to Darcy and the Jotun wall builder. The magician could feel her lips form a grimace at that memory. The fury that Freyja had given her for a near month as the Jotun kept his building at neck braking speed was more than enough to have made her nearly regret her free mouth.

Jane glanced her big brown eyes back at Darcy, reaching a hand back to put on her arm gently, waking Darcy from her memories. Her curly-haired sister nodded at the elder, seeing they had arrived to the inner vault where the dead lay with the relics, quiet from disturbance. The metallic monstrosity that was the Destroyer, a golem that Odin had created with a dying star frightened both Jane and Darcy, though Darcy wondered a lot of things about it. She had since her childhood when the Allfather had shown them the Destroyer, taking them down here in the vault and displaying the giant metal guard that acted under his will.

Jane bent over one of the corpses, mouth closed in a firm line as her fingers touched along his body to his hand. Jane had never been to the war or the occasional skirmish along their borders in the other worlds. She was a researcher and was adept at keeping her head where it needed to be. Her younger sister had more often been the true wanderer between the two of them. Darcy had travelled to many worlds, but due to her nature, had caused trouble accidently on each trip until their father had demanded Jane go along to keep her in line. (It bears to say that it never helped really though.) Corpses though, for Darcy, were not a new sight to her. Sure, she got the queasy feeling in her gut and felt scared for a second at her own immortality, but she knew the danger had passed them and that it was truly safe for now.

"The Jotuns must answer for what they have done and why." Jane's eyes finally looked up from the corpse of the guard that had ensorcelled her in fright. Her voice did not waver. It rarely wavered at all. Jane was a rock in a sea of uncertainties and stayed true to herself. Her big brown eyes that reminded Odin so much of Frigga most days stared up at him in response, waiting for his reply. The Allfather in his suit of gold, placed the Casket of Winters back on its pedestal in front of the gate where the Destroyer stood hidden, warded from its own destructive forces.

"They have paid with their lives. The Destroyer did its work. The casket is safe. All is well." His voice was troubled, something Darcy easily picked up on with his back set as if they were still at court which made the younger nearly frown. She enjoyed it when Odin smiled. He could light up a room with his beaming eye and smile when there was laughter to be had. Frigga and herself, alone, had the ability to make him smile though only Darcy reserved the ability to make the ever flat-faced visage of Jane even break out into a tiny chuckle.

"Father, they broke into the weapons vault. If the frost giants claimed even one of these relics…" Jane's firm voice broke through the quiet behind their father's statement. Darcy glanced sideways at her sister and then her father. She knew better. Darcy had seen many a heads-butting match between her older sister and their father to know better. Jane's shoulders were set back in her tension at her building frustration with Odin. Their father's back tensed as Darcy knew that Odin was just as stubborn as her elder sibling.

"They didn't." He turned around after setting the casket down, having made sure there was no injury on the relic. His eye took in Jane's standing form and her unwavering chin. She kept her stare level to his one blue eye, brown clashing with blue as their unspoken friction exuded from the two of them. It was at this time that Darcy glanced to her side, a feeling of a void, a space not from the area around them lingered to her. She hadn't noticed it earlier with the shock of the dead bodies and dismembered limbs of the Jotuns, but Darcy swallowed softly.

"I want to know why." Jane stepped forward from the corpse moving towards their father as he stood silently, watching Jane with interest as if weighing her on a scale at the market and seeing if she stood a chance of being the same worth as what he was trying to balance. Darcy knew that her father wasn't paying attention to her. She turned her head to where the void her senses had picked up was and suddenly she knew what it was. This was magic that had ripped the seam of Asgard and this particular magic, she knew it very well.

"I have a truce with Laufey, King of the Jotuns. This was not his doing." It almost sounded like a question to Darcy when her father, Odin mentioned Laufey. Was Laufey still in power? Did he keep the truce or had he left it amongst the ruins of his world to take advantage of the rip in their defenses and bring his prized Casket of Winters back? Was there someone who was controlling a pack of rogue Jotun who wanted power for themselves? Darcy didn't know yet and she doubted their father had any idea as of yet.

"He must have sent these giants here. They know you are vulnerable if taken by surprise." Darcy, for her part, kept her mouth shut. She knew better than to speak when Jane got in this manner, all too calculating on her words and aiming them to make a point. It had happened often enough in their years when Darcy would be incomprehensible in her sensibilities to Jane and Jane fought with all her pointed logic and every ounce of factual evidence she could bring up until she won the argument more often than not causing Darcy to grow extremely quiet in shame.

"You are taking this as an attack on all of Asgard." Odin, who had often crossed words with both girls, shook his head at his oldest. Her brown eyes were furrowed and intense, intent on her purpose. She wanted to know how those Jotun came by the deepest part of Asgard and yet Odin felt his body shake at the idea of his daughters going to Jotunheim and thinking they would be safe even if they raised the white flag for answers, even if Laufey was still in power. Jane, though, thought little more of her own safety and coupled with his magical daughter, Darcy, any adventure they ever took upon themselves was always filled with danger that quadrupled with every moment.

"See where they came in! You cannot deny that if they had succeeded we would have been hard-pressed for an attack." Breathing harshly between her teeth, clenched as they were, Jane frowned at the Allfather. Her anger breaking her usual calm façade as she was trying to make the Allfather understand the importance of this matter. People had invaded their most dangerous relics and the Allfather was treating it very lightly, as if they had just been rude guests at tea.

"We will find the breach in our defenses and it will be sealed so they may not enter that way again." Jane's anger sparked, a dangerous flicker in her that Darcy knew better to temper with. It was bad enough that Darcy kept looking back and forth between her father's blue eye and her sister's dark brown eyes. Both were trying to match the other in will, when Darcy could tell from Jane's clenched fists and angry downturn of her lips, that her sister was going to say something remarkably bad as that was usually when Jane would trip up on her own argument and Darcy or Odin would win, though for Darcy that was rare in itself as she usually let Jane win.

"As Queen of Asgard, fathe-" There it was. Darcy turned her head to hide the fleeting smug look upon her red lips as Jane nearly yelled at their father. Her temper had broken through with her words carrying the first princess's fury. The younger of the two looked over to the Allfather. His posture was tense, fingers wringing Gungnir as if it were his furious elder daughter's neck. Jane immediately felt regret as she was cut off from the Allfather's dark voice, booming in it's quiet regard for his daughter.

"You are not queen, not yet."

With that, Jane turned and left, nearly stomping in anger. Odin looked over at his brunette daughter, only nodding toward Jane's departure. The magical woman nodded at her father, stumbling backward in hopes that her father would not pick up the void that she had felt. Turning away from her father, Darcy ran after her stomping sister.

"Jane! Wait for me!"

LLL

So far so good? I might change up the writing style. Ideas?


	4. Pack the Knickers

No Power in the 'Verse

LLLLLL

"_The greatest and most powerful revolutions often start very quietly, hidden in the shadows. Remember that."_

―_Richelle Mead__,_

LLLLLL

Chapter 3: Pack the Knickers

LLLLL

Sequestered away in one of the large halls, food decorating the tables and pacing with the edge of a maddened horse, one princess of Asgard was blustering her way back and forth the large columns to the outer balcony. The darker brunette princess, clad in gold and green as was her personal liking, could only sit idly by as the elder of the two went back and forth as if she were a pendulum of time.

The chaotic sorceress knew there wasn't any real way of getting through her elder sister when she was like this, focused on a goal and frustrated at whatever chose to be the road block to it. Darcy could only reflect to herself that if it had been her that was on the end of Father Odin's personal remarks, that she would have simply shrugged it off as was her way of things. Living nearly four millenia, Darcy had gotten very used to being reprimanded and reminded of her failures and the oft-times she overspoke her place as the second princess and the spare.

Eyeing her muttering sister, angry with a dark fury in her amber brown eyes as she walked, barely knowing Darcy was there, Darcy could only feel a tinge of jealousy. Jane wasn't used to overstepping her bounds as Darcy was and whenever she did, scolded in a few words from their father, she would get like this. Being the heir to the throne of Asgard had its perks in the respect that sometimes, quite frankly, to Darcy's bright blue eyes, that Jane could nearly get away with murdering the Allfather. (Darcy doubted it realistically, but even as a child she had been in more trouble than Frigga and Odin had ever expected compared to the rather logical Jane Odinsdottir.)

After a few more minutes of watching Jane burn a hole in the fine, smooth stone floor, Darcy stood up and chose to speak to her sister in hopes of reaching through the rather stubborn pride Jane vainly held herself to, a security blanket that did not help the sorceress empathize any. Having been a troublemaker since she could crawl, pride was least of her vices. (In fact, pure shamelessness tended to be it.)

"Jane, think about it in this way, father is only doing what he thinks best." The older woman stopped her pacing, taking a break that no doubt the floor thanked Darcy secretly for, before crossing her arms tightly over her torso in defense of the girl's statement. Jane's eyes furrowed upon her younger sister's soft appeal, taking in the long chocolate hair and blue eyes that stared at her in hope that she would take her anger and place it away from her mind.

With a look that the sorceress rarely saw, Darcy wilted under her stern and unforgiving gaze, before the loud sound of her foot stamping in frustration broke their intermittent silence.

"What is best is not what's in our interests!" The magician took a moment to wince at the heavy tone in her sister's normally quiet voice. For kin, Darcy was the one who spoke with such loudness that Jane seemed always very demure and near frail in her soft seriousness. Some days, the green-clothed woman wondered just exactly where she got her demeanor from and how she came about such an outrageous personality that was deemed unhealthy for a woman of her standards. Warrior women were always so strong and rarely showed their hearts on their sleeves. Even the researchers and commoners had a stock of stoicism that Darcy was unable to obtain. Despite her inability to be stoic, Darcy was one of the few women who was a true sorceress, a boast that had not come easier with time and had her emotions running far more wild than most people understood. Magic was a power fueled by emotion and contained by restraint that the goddess of chaos had yet to replicate.

"He doesn't want either of us to go to Jotunheim, to find answers or anything else." Pleading to Jane's sensibility, Darcy threw her hands up in the air, trying to make the elder of the two understand amongst the finery they were conversing around. Jane hissed in her anger, stamping her foot loudly again. Jane began her pacing yet again.

"That's just it, Darcy! They were able to come into Asgard without warning and without Heimdall seeing them!" Her hands gestured wildly in the air as if she were weaving an elaborate tapestry that only Jane could see with her light brown eyes. the younger kin only stared blankly, not sure what to say first to Jane's furious puzzle-working, until she felt a hint of realization that perhaps Jane had not thought upon.

"Maybe they found a way to shield themselves from his sight and travel among Yggdrasil without the Bifrost. The problem has been dealt with for your ceremony though, there is no need to worry anymore." Darcy stood up, brushing her hands along her dark olive green pants, before glancing over at her sister. Jane, for the first time since their father's stern dismissal seemed rooted to the spot that she stood in. Her green eyes widened immensely at the stunned look upon Jane's face.

"Oh, by the halls of Valhalla! Darcy! I can't believe I didn't think of it like that." The pause caused Darcy concern, concern she did not know what for, but it was still concern nonetheless. Jane's mouth was dropped open, wide enough that the Bifrost could create a portal it seemed before she closed with such a snap the brunette thought she had heard thunder crack among the stars for all the sudden noise it made. Her sister's bright brown eyes sparkled with a curiousity as her mouth began running rapid, family to the tides of the sea at the edge of the world.

"Wait….What?" Jane squealed, a sound that nearly made Darcy backpedal into a pillar for all the reason for her own sanity as one Jane Odinsdottir, keeper of the mighty Mjolnir, Lady and Researcher of the stars was not a woman to squeal in such a manner. In fact, Darcy hadn't ever let the thought pass her mind that her sister had the capacity to even make that high pitched of a noise.

"They have something that duplicates the Bifrost's power to travel and shield themselves from sight!" Jane bounced, flouncing around in her armored court dress like a three year old with a new favorite toy. Her hair spun around in her excitement, stars shimmering in the fire light of the sconces by the pillars. To Darcy, her sister was radiant, a cosmic entity burning with it's picturesque brilliance behind it's clever mind.

"I said they might, not that they do, Jane." She raised her hands up gently, biting her peach-colored bottom lip gently as Darcy spoke to her sister. The sorceress didn't want to burn out her sister's motivation with her words, carefully watching Jane as she let her sister know her misgivings about Jane's assumption.

"We need to go and…" However, it seemed that despite Darcy's strong words to dismay Jane from her conclusion, the lady of the stars did not seem to hear her, muttering quietly to herself at the pounding of incoming feet. Blue eyes darted up to glance over at the group of people thundering their way down the halls. Darcy silently groaned to herself. At this rate, there was no chance as of yet to go and try and fix the colossal rip between space and time that she had found in the vault earlier.

"Lady Jane, Lady Darcy! What is wrong here?" The thundering herd of feet did little to dissuade Darcy's current thoughts upon just how exactly she was to get back into the vault without anyone, especially Odin and her sister knowing she was there. Upon the calamity of leather and metal jingling with the clip-claps of hardened foot wear on the marble floors, the goddess of chaos peeked her head up from her musings to see just who had come to, perhaps, her rescue with her zealous sister.

"Are you both alright?" The second tallest of the four, a woman of muscular definition and midnight black hair that had once shone a blinding gold, hundreds of years before, spoke as she approached the two princesses. Darcy felt her hopes rise as she thought of how to get out of way and fix what she didn't want known among any one else. The woman was Sif, a spear-maiden whom had been Jane's friend and guardian since Darcy could remember. Unlike the princesses though, she had taken to the warrior way of living without much care of what others thought about her bearing enough arms to take the heartiest of men down, despite being friends with Volstagg, whom was a legend of his own.

For the most part, Jane and Sif were the best of friends despite their constant differences. Sif had gathered Jane's respect for her willingness in heading into a terroritory dominated by men akin to Jane's own journey into respected Jane as she had determinedly made it so that any woman in Sif's position of wanting to be a warrior would be able to. Darcy, however, had gained little of the mutual respect Sif and Jane shared. In truth, the mage could say she was jealous of how powerful and simply elegant Sif was in combat as Darcy's magic was wild and could easily make a situation better or much, much worse. However, if anything, the lady warrior was a steadfast and kind woman who would not let Jane march herself into danger and thus, allow the younger of the two royals to sneak away all too easily.

The three other warriors with Sif would do little to keep Jane busy enough away from Darcy. Hogun, the shortest of the men was stout with a physique that the goddess of chaos had drooled at from across the practice fields in the royal arena. He was light on his feet but was a man who spoke very little, to which the mage had found confounding during her entire five-minute crush on him when her hormones had hit her harshly one day. His facial expressions contained only three sayings that she could interepet: "What are you doing here?", "Why are you annoying me?", and his slight crooked smirk which was "Ha."

He was overshadowed easily by the heartiest of the men in Asgard, Volstagg the Great. Volstagg and Hogun had been assigned to Darcy's protection when she had started straying from the large hall as a child. The large man was exhuberant and a generally jolly man who the sorceress enjoyed most days as he was upbeat but earthy in a manner that reminded her of Frigga. He was a sturdy man who wielded a strong two handed axe as if it were a rapier and ate like no tomorrow, except when it came to Darcy's meals when she had, a century ago, chosen to try and take up the womanly art of cooking. (That urge to cook lasted all of five days to which Volstagg had perhaps had the longest amount of fasting done in his waistline could attest to it.)

The last of the three was Fandral the Dashing, at least that is how he always introduced himself to the maidens of any place they went to. He was a known philanderer to which the blonde mustached swordsman did little to hide even to Darcy whom enjoyed his attentions when she wanted them. Though to her own convictions, Fandral was never going to be the mage's , the second princess thought the rather charismatic warrior was in fact married to the bush on his face. Fandral could write sonnets about how his elegantly tailored whiskers that he brushed three times a day -morning, noon, and night- were fascinating and very much the love of his life.

Darcy could hardly doubt the man would ever take a sharp edge to that well-maintained upper lip plumage unless it was to trim it by scant centimeters to keep it in perfect, Fandral-and-lady-loving shape. Even Jane had looked up at him for a mere few minutes before deciding she preferred research over even the elaborately well-acquainted ladie's man of Asgard. (It was more to the fact that Jane would like to be treasured more than someone's particular lip brow.)

"Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, Jane has an idea!" Their footsteps softened to a halt on the floor, all four newcomers with varied visages of worry. It wasn't that Jane having an idea was truly worrying, for she was a rather smart woman, but it was the manner of which her ideas tended to end up in, especially when Darcy was involved with them. Due to Jane's ideas, Sif now had forever midnight black hair, styled straight down her back and shoulders instead of the once golden mane she had been proud of to the point of arrogance, though the permeance had been due to Darcy's interference.

"Idea? What beautiful idea does the princess have?" Fandral's pleasing lilting voice inquired in the echo of the room as the warriors all glanced over to Jane, who practically smiled widely from ear to ear at each of them. The quickening sense of dread seemed to engulf the comrades in arms as they waited for Jane to announce her idea.

"We are going to Jotunheim ourselves!" She flippantly ignored Fandral's compliment, having gotten rather used to them over the years, nearly dancing on her feet as she told the warriors and her sister of their plan. The wide-eyed faces of the three men and Lady Sif did little justice to their disbelief. Darcy could only manage a sheepish grin as they took in her take upon Jane's plan to go to Jotunheim.

"Jane!" "Lady Jane!" Fandral and Volstagg shouted in their surprise at the ludicrous design the princess of the stars seemed destined to hurl them towards. When Darcy peeked over at the grim Hogun's expression, she thought she would be able to add another to her list. Open mouthed was now his words for, "What in the Hel?"

"This is foolishness! The height of tomfoolery, Princess." Fandral moved towards Jane, arms wide in his disbelief. For once, the goddess of chaos could almost see the lip brow he was so proud of droop down in near despair over the idea of going through with his princess. She almost felt pity at the state Fandral would be in if it ever fell down on the floor in his distress.

"Jane, think this over, please!" Sif broke the rule of being Jane's guard to her concerned friend in only a moment by taking the two strides to Jane and grasping her strong, calloused hands on the researcher's biceps, shaking her rather gently for a woman who could easily break men of Jane's physique in two all too easily. Sif gave her charge her most stern look, one that could easily rival Odin's one-eyed peircing stare. The seriousness of Sif's frowning did not seem to cause her pause.

"No, we are going to do this and we are going to find out how they came into our realm. Fandral, go saddle our horses. Wear armor and warm clothing." Jane's words echoed in the chamber as Darcy watched Fandral draw back in uncertainty. Should he follow the express command of one of his lieges or should he choose to ignore her? The question danced between the sides of his head.

"No, Princess Jane. We will not go on this endeavor." Volstagg's deep voice mournfully declined his head princess, speaking for all of them at once. The declination did not pacify Jane into submitting to their desire for her to step down from her chosen path. She would find out how and she would then try and replicate it successfully. If her attempts ended in failure, she would try until it worked out perfectly.

"Either you will, or Darcy and I will go alone and then who will explain to Odin why his two daughters had no protectors with them on their trip of diplomatic importance?" Her logic was sound, causing each of the bodyguards to look down in troubled countenances. Darcy stared at her sister with wide eyes. The Warriors Three and even Sif had not caused her sister to budge. What hope did Darcy have when they failed with their protests?

"Jane, are you certain of this course of action?" Her voice wavered in the air, a butterfly's echo to the determined march of Jane. Brown earth met the open sky as thinned lips smiled gently. The mage felt the gears in her head turn. Jane may be in trouble if they go. Sweet Jane who only thought of her stars and books and connecting the worlds together until she became so stubborn and proud that Darcy would be left at the ends of her strong ideals, at the mercy of her self-righteousness. Instantly, she felt ashamed.

"Yes, I'm certain." Jane spoke softly for her ears, a sisterly whisper that was kept from the views of others. The ones Jane gave Darcy when Darcy had felt below her, in the shadowed corners of the eating hall to remind the sorceress that she was amazing in her own way, a star in her sister's eyes.

"So who wants to bet how long we will have before Darcy causes a planetary war?" Everyone's heads snapped in the same direction at once. The charismatic ladies-man smiled sheepishly. Darcy stomped her foot at the incorrigible man. A spike of ice came out from the ground in front of Fandral's nose.

"Now that's just rude, Fandral." Jane's half-smirk hid her mirthful eyes from their sights. He darted away from the ice to smile congenially towards Jane who seemed more intent on making her way towards the hall where the royal family lived.

"But so true, my darling Princess." Fandral's laugh made Sif and Volstagg shake their heads at the man as they walked by him, leaving him mostly alone in the lit food hall. Darcy stood behind him, watching everyone leave her.

"Not even one bet?" He called out, chasing after his fellow warriors and the heir. Darcy took a few moments to realize she had been left behind before smiling darkly. This was the most opportune time to fix what needed to be fixed and choose what to do about their following trip to the world of the frost giants, Jotunheim.

LLLLL


End file.
